Lakers Softball Brings Back Experienced Team

First-year varsity softball head coach Jaclyn Pilkiewicz hopes that her roster’s experience and skill will take the team far this season.

Pilkiewicz, who coached the Lakers' junior varsity team last season and said she is familiar with returning players, is inheriting a team that won its second consecutive district title a year ago after an up-and-down regular season and gave eventual state runner-up White Lake Lakeland all it could handle in a close, 2-0 regional tournament loss.

The Lakers lost just four seniors this year, Pilkiewicz said, and the team is expected to contend for an Oakland Activities Association White Division crown.

“We’ve been built around some younger players for the last year or two, and now we expect that is really going to pay off,” said Pilkiewicz. “Now we have a lot more experience and leadership that should help us in those close games.”

Overall team strengths should include a strong defense, led by junior pitcher Allyson Kus. The top starter for West Bloomfield finished with a 16-7 record and a 2.01 ERA last season and said she has had a strong offseason, Pilkiewicz said, as she worked on improving her off-speed pitches.

Unlike many pitchers in softball, Kus is also a strong hitter, having batted .320 last season in 97 at-bats, the most of any returning player on the team. 

“I’ve really been working on my change-up, curve and screwball,” Kus said. “We’ll need good defense and pitching if we want to win districts again and advance to regionals.” 

West Bloomfield has the potential to make a deep run in the tournament, said senior first baseman Lindsay Gill, adding that one of the biggest reasons is the team's experience.

“Most of the girls have been on the team before for a year or two or three,” said Gill, who hit for 13 RBI last season. “But this year, we’re older because we have just one freshman and one sophomore, and the rest are upperclassmen. We know what to expect.” 

Fellow senior Emily Lustig (.366 on-base percentage in 2010) will play multiple positions in the infield and the outfield, depending on matchups, and can move from one position to another with ease, providing Pilkiewicz with a great deal of flexibility. 

Junior Claire Forhan may bat leadoff and offers speed running the bases and tracking down balls in the outfield.

“These players really have a lot of experience and are reliable for us,” Pilkiewicz said. “They are leaders, too.”

Lustig hopes the Lakers will be able to manufacture more runs as well. 

“I hope we’re more aggressive on the bases this year because I think we have great team speed,” Lustig said. “Stealing bases could be a real strength for us and could help us score more runs.”

The Lakers varsity team opens the season April 13 with a doubleheader at . The first game begins at 4 p.m.